Bang! Sizzle!
The snow shadow, gliding onto the ice, embedded the tips of its black claws into the frozen surface. After a sharp stop, it violently shook its back.
Roar! Roar!
Two urgent roars, accompanied by the twisting and swaying of its body, seemed to convey a message: "Get off me, quickly!"
"I'm getting off, I'm getting off, what's the rush? At least stop properly first," Li Fan said. Despite its impatience, Xueying actually stood still.
Leaping onto the ice, the man and the dragon first created some distance, exchanging wary glances. Seeing that neither intended to attack, they simultaneously looked in one direction.
Bang! Bang! Bang!....
Each stride of its front claws sent countless ice crystals flying.
Through the swirling snow mist, the charging Monoblos appeared within sight.
"Approximately 25 meters in length, with a striped wound on the skin above its right brow, consistent with the individual observed before. It's the same one that attacked you."
Li Fan lowered his binoculars and took out a bright yellow whetstone from his waist pouch, drawing his Dragon Slicer Greatsword to sharpen it.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!....
Sparks and flames erupted from the blade with each friction of the whetstone.
"Phew, phew, so hot. Good thing I have the Dragon Guard, otherwise I'd have to rely on my companion to sharpen my blade."
Seeing the sharp glint on the blade, Li Fan casually tossed the slightly reddened whetstone aside and began to warm up by swinging his upper body back and forth.
Roar?
Xueying let out a confused roar, wondering if this was preparation for battle.
Li Fan finished his warm-up and, prostrating himself on the ice, braced himself with his hands.
"Ah!"
After roaring towards the sky, he immediately got up and explained, "The Monoblos will roar when it sees you. As a monster, you'll naturally respond with a roar, and then you'll posture and probe each other."
Roar...
Xueying seemed to understand, yet not.
"But who says monsters have to roar at each other when they meet?"
Li Fan said, then crawled onto the ice again, striking a roaring pose. He then raised his right fist, placing it against his cheek.
"If I were a monster, I wouldn't care if it was a Monoblos or a Fatalis; I'd just go in with a heavy punch."
Roar?
"Then run away! Anyway, hitting it is a win. If you're lucky enough to knock it down, just pounce on it and beat it up."
Li Fan punched the air furiously.
Roar...
Xueying hesitated.
"Don't doubt yourself. Look at the Arzuros, Rajang, Brachydios; they dare to challenge Elder Dragons. What's a Monoblos?"
Roar...
"If there's one monster that can rule the frozen islands, why can't it be you?"
Roar....
"Does a higher ecological niche grant superiority?"
Apart from mimicking the movements, Xueying couldn't really understand what Li Fan was saying.
But his impassioned tone, coupled with his heroic gestures, made Xueying feel something dormant within its body being gradually awakened.
"Go! Be an Icefang Wyvern that defies definition!"
Roar! Xueying let out a skyward roar, straightened its body, and faced the direction of the approaching Monoblos, its amber eyes filled with determination.
"Good, that's the spirit. I'll be behind you, assisting with all my might."
After praising it, Li Fan turned and began to run.
Bang! Bang! Bang!....
The charging Monoblos swayed its body, its two wing claws digging into the ice, one front and one back, to brake with brute force.
The two dragons faced off. The Monoblos, with its claws on the ice, was about to roar when its gray, club-like tail slammed into its face.
Unfortunately, the opportunity for a knockdown that Li Fan spoke of did not materialize, and the Monoblos remained firmly planted on the ice.
Its head, knocked to the side by the tail, snapped back, and a terrifying ferocity flashed in its eyes.
For some reason, Xueying instinctively looked back for the talkative hunter, seeking more commands and encouragement.
However, the hunter had already run far ahead.
This time, Xueying braced itself with its front claws, as if about to roar.
The Monoblos hesitated, intending to engage in the customary roar-off. However, as soon as it raised its neck, the gray, club-like tail struck its face again.
As it prepared to retaliate, Xueying had already turned and fled.
"Hitting it is a win. Fangfang, you've grasped the essence... Hey! Don't run towards me!"
"With such a vast area, why not choose another direction!"
The Monoblos opened its fanged maw to its widest and charged!
Bang! Bang! Bang!....
Li Fan listened to the pounding sounds and felt the vibrations under his feet intensify. He knew without looking that the Monoblos was in pursuit.
With a sudden stop, Li Fan made a right-angle turn and continued running.
Xueying, sliding and turning, continued to follow.
The Monoblos slammed its front claws down, its feet digging in to adjust its direction. Without slowing down, it swung its body in a semi-arc, completing the turn with a sliding drift.
Roar roar! Roar roar!....
Perhaps too excited that it was catching up to Xueying, the Monoblos roared.
"This is it! Fangfang, take flight!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Li Fan fired three Wirebugs towards the sky.
Screech! The Iron Wire tightened, suspending him in mid-air.
The pursuing Xueying and Monoblos arrived. With a bang, the surrounding ice cracked into a deep circular fissure, and the ice surface collapsed.
Xueying flapped its claw-wings and took flight, while the Monoblos, using its momentum, leaped forward.
Whoosh~
The air current from its charge scattered the snow on the ice into a misty spray as it landed.
"No way, it can jump that far?"
This ice-surface trap was meant for Xueying.
He had thought it would be more effective against the larger Monoblos, but the creature had simply leaped over it.
"This isn't good. Fangfang, do you have any strategies?" Li Fan asked tentatively.
Xueying, gliding, let out a displeased growl.
It seemed to be questioning who gave him permission to jump onto its back again.
Boom! Sizzle! Crack!
A sharp cutting sound rang out.
Li Fan turned back warily.
He saw the Monoblos spread its three-toed wing claws, its sharp, gleaming tips pressing into the ice with brute force.
The surrounding cracked ice immediately shattered into several irregularly shaped blocks.
The Monoblos gripped one of the blocks with its wing claw and slowly swung its entire arm and upper body backward.
Ching! Li Fan drew his Dragon Slicer Greatsword and said earnestly, "Fangfang, try to fly steadily."
Roar?
Xueying tilted its head down in confusion and instantly realized the seriousness of the situation.
It quickly flapped its wings and straightened its body.
With veins bulging, it swung its front claws backward and threw.
Whoosh! Swoosh! A sound of breaking air followed.
The ice block, carrying immense impact, flew towards them as if teleporting.
Hum!
Li Fan raised his Dragon Slicer Greatsword and activated "Perception."
"This speed!"
Li Fan was shocked.
In his vision, where time seemed to slow to a crawl, the blue and white ice block, shrouded in airflow, was still approaching slowly.
This meant that its actual speed was incredibly exaggerated.
"Monsters that are five-star solely on strength are indeed extraordinary," Li Fan mused inwardly, a strong desire to slash welling up from his heart.
Judging the distance, he stepped forward and unleashed a downward slash.
Ching! A straight, thin line appeared in the center of the ice block.
Screech! It split into two nearly equal pieces, the cut as smooth as a mirror.
Just as Li Fan thought he was safe, the ice block that flew to the left collided with Xueying's wing bone.
Crack! The seemingly solid ice exploded and scattered.
Splat! Man and dragon plummeted to the ice.
Li Fan, falling, quickly got up in a daze. Feeling a sharp pain in his chest, he hastily peeled away the ice shards from his body.
A cylindrical ice shard, embedded in the Kama-type Dragon's breastplate, was revealed.
Fortunately, it wasn't deeply embedded. With a slight exertion, Li Fan pulled out the shard, which had a small amount of blood on its tip.
"So this is a monster that excels in strength..." Li Fan couldn't help but sigh.
Monsters that couldn't utilize or carry elemental energy had always felt somewhat lacking to him before.
Now, having truly experienced their power, he realized that perhaps sheer brute strength was also a terrifying ability.
Hoo~ Hoo~
Xueying took two deep breaths and struggled to get up, propping itself on its front limbs.
Pfft!
Blood spurted from the base of its hind leg, a wound caused by the "puff cutting ray."
The original tear was not this large, but the impact from the fall had caused the wound to expand further.
Xueying tried to move its foot and felt a piercing pain.
Believing escape was impossible, it repeatedly inhaled rapidly, filling its internal freezing sacs with air.
After several repetitions, wisps of cold air continuously seeped from its mouth.
Li Fan fired another flare to re-establish their location.
Thump... thump... thump...
Meanwhile, the Monoblos not far away slowly approached, its wing claws closed and lifted off the ground.
"What to do? Have the little idiot air-drop and attach a wire to fly away?"
"No, the Monoblos won't just stand by and watch."
"Capture it with a Poké Ball?"
"The conditions are too far off; it won't even go in."
....
Li Fan's mind raced as he watched the Monoblos walk, stop, and drool.
Suddenly, an idea struck him.
"Fangfang, I'm leaving for a bit, but I'll be back soon. Wait for me!"
Li Fan said, waving his arm towards the sky.
Whoosh~
Xueying exhaled a puff of cold air through its nostrils, looking somewhat resigned.
"Believe me! Hold on!"
Roar...
Xueying responded with a perfunctory growl.
At this moment, the Little Idiot, swooping down, hovered beside Li Fan, letting out anxious roars.
Clearly, the approaching Monoblos made it uneasy.
Using a Wirebug, Li Fan leaped onto the Little Idiot's back and shouted his final words: "I said a lot of nonsense before, but what I really wanted to say is... you are no worse than any other Icefang Wyvern!"
Xueying froze instantly. Its amber eyes lost focus for a moment before regaining a different kind of brilliance.
The Monoblos, moving with its wing claws, had a leisurely, unhurried air.
It paid little attention to Xueying, instead tilting its head and looking left and right, as if searching for other targets.
Unfortunately, in the vast expanse of ice, there was nothing else here besides Xueying.
The Monoblos lowered its head, drool continuously dripping from its fangs.
Xueying narrowed its eyes, guessing that the Monoblos was more interested in a Rathian, and, unable to find one, was slightly lost.
ROAR!!!
Xueying threw its head back and let out a fierce roar, officially declaring war.
The Monoblos turned its head in surprise, staring at the prey it had in hand for a moment. Its two wing claws landed on the ice, and it responded with a roar of its own.
The two dragons leaped and collided in mid-air.
The Monoblos, possessing overwhelming strength, exerted force with its wing claws, flipping Xueying over in mid-air and pinning it to the ice.
In close combat between monsters, there was no more passive position than being on your back.
The Monoblos twisted its neck and prepared to bite down on Xueying's neck.
Xueying didn't struggle with all its might, but waited for the right moment to open its mouth to its widest.
Boom! The accumulated frost gas in its mouth suddenly dispersed.
In the pure white storm, the Monoblos lost all its senses and raised one wing claw, attempting to disperse the storm with brute force.
However, the Monoblos, confident that one wing claw could suppress its opponent, never expected that as soon as it raised its claw, Xueying would suddenly leap up on one side, its two amber fangs sinking fiercely into the Monoblos's neck.
Awoo!
The Monoblos's body arched, letting out a roar filled with pain, and its wing claw swung out rapidly.
Crack!
Xueying was sent flying, tumbling and sliding across the ice before quickly righting itself and getting up.
ROAR!!!
The Monoblos roared furiously, its eyes filled with rage.
But the next moment, drool dripped from its fangs again. The Monoblos, lowering its head unconsciously, shook it several times before regaining its senses.
The hungry Monoblos felt like it had chosen the wrong prey.
It had spent a lot of energy chasing on the ground all the way here.
It had thought this Icefang Wyvern would be an easy catch, but it turned out to be a tough bone.
Fortunately, the brief exchange had torn one of its wing membranes, and its wing bone had also bent after that downward strike.
Confirming that Xueying had no chance of escape, the Monoblos became cautious. After all, it didn't want to be bitten by those amber fangs in a vital spot again.
The two dragons faced off for a moment, and Xueying began to run in a staggered clockwise direction.
Seeing its opponent actively initiate an attack, the Monoblos bared its fangs.
If it could express its emotions in human language, it would undoubtedly be: "Rebellion! Rebellion! The Icefang Wyvern is overturning the ecological hierarchy!"
The Monoblos's newly established rationality crumbled at this moment.
Its wing claws dug into the ice, and it charged!
Bang! Bang! Bang!.....
Seeing this, Xueying did not try to escape but continuously twisted its forward direction drastically.
Due to the immense force of the charge, the Monoblos had to slide in a wide arc each time it wanted to pursue and keep up, before it could straighten its body.
In terms of speed and power while moving, Xueying couldn't compare to the Monoblos.
But in terms of controlling its body on the ice, as long as it wasn't tired or its claw tips weren't damaged, Xueying was confident it surpassed the other.
The two dragons circled wildly on the ice like this.
During a sharp turn, the Monoblos seized the opportunity, leaped forward with force, and pressed its wing claws onto Xueying's back.
Xueying's breathing grew shorter and shorter. Its eyelids drooped, feeling like it had reached its limit.
But recalling Li Fan's "hitting it is a win" attack pattern, it swung its club-like tail sideways, striking the Monoblos on the head.
As the Monoblos raised its wing claws, preparing to strike down with great force,
A chunk of beast meat, flying from high above, hit its head.
The Monoblos was about to roar when it saw the piece of meat roll onto the ground. Its eyes suddenly went blank, becoming dazed.
Seeing that Li Fan had indeed kept his promise and come to save it, Xueying was deeply moved.
But upon seeing the torn edges of the lean meat, its expression became somewhat strange.